New York Restaurants

xpost - no I don't think I knew that

can you bring vodka if a place is byob? i always wondered that

or cocaine

haha just kidding

haha good question. I would think yes? I've only done beer and wine. would be sweet to roll up to a byo mexican place with a pitcher of margaritas

Has anyone been to Frankie's Spuntino (Brooklyn or the new LES location)? We've been to Prime Meats, and we recently bought their cookbook which is awesome.

These guys are quite the entrepreneurs - two frankies, prime meats, some sort of partnership or ownership in Cafe Pedlar (which also has a LES location next to the frankies), the cookbook, and their own brand of olive oil.

i love james--the brunch is really good too--tho the last time i went it was pretty lackluster. steak was sort of boring.

i checked out abistro last week and really dug it. ari did not; i dont think she likes senegalese food tho she is trying to claim that it was the cooking and not the cuisine. suspect.jpg

i went to momofuku ssam and got the bo ssam with some friends a few weeks ago, plus a bunch of other dishes (tripe was godly)--what a meal. i mean, the pork is delicious but the whole thing is just fun, getting a bunch of bros together to pick at some amazing meat (pause) (rewind) getting a bunch of bros together to pick at some amazing meat

pequena is great to have on vanderblit! and the waitresses are way nicer at this lokaysh. speaking of mexico i went to mercadito the other weekend and got some bomb-ass fish tacos. WAY expensive--$8 for two tacos. but dang, maybe the best tacos ive had since leaving LA.

Oh, I did try Clinton St. Bakery brunch finally. Thought it was good but a little bit ridiculous. I mean any brunch that you wait two hours for and pay 30% more for is bound to be overrated. It's not that hard to make good eggs and pancakes.

went to momofuku ssam for the first time a few weeks ago...didn't blow me away. The pork bun was awesome, the other stuff was really good but didn't always kill me. Next door at Milk Bar the Cinnamon Bun Pie though, god damn that's something else.

Been to Frankie's on Court St. a few times, it's really good iirc.

going to Locanda Verde for my wife's b-day this wkend - will report back.

oh man, the pork bun at momofuku might be my favorite thing to eat in nyc

Went to Locanda Verde a few weeks ago as well. Some of the best appetizers and deserts any of us have ever had. But the entree's were hit-or-miss. Both pasta entree's got a "meh" for the most part. I had the Sausage Grinder which was pretty great but also hard to mess up! The duck was also good. But we all agreed on going back and just doing starters and deserts! Keep that in mind. The lamb meatball sandwhich starter was great, the fresh ricotta was great (though seasoned and not as purely awesome as Peasant). Crab crostini, Burrata, all good. But the deserts...Sweet Corn Budino was everyone's favorite, and I loved the Torta Di Miele and the Strawberry-Processo Sorbetto.

It was a good example because I went there then Momofuku like a week or two later, and the sorbet at Locanda Verde was so simple and so delicious, just the sorbet with a few simple cookies in it, then Momofuku had a blueberry sorbet with this meringue thing and yogurt and was totally cutting edge but didn't taste nearly as good.

thanks for the tips dan/looking at the menu online I thought the crostini and grinder/sliders were right up my wife and son's alleys, respectively. maybe I'll get the duck instead of pasta

I adore Locanda Verde, it's one of those places where the cooking will be totally ordinary in a few years but right now they're great. Dan's right, the entrees are the weakest part but I'd suggest doing pastas as main courses instead.

double tap for mercadito -- i've never been let down there. the hominy is amazing

hominy hominy

Toro Sushi's new home in the former Baskin Robbins (next to Flatbush Farm) is looking pretty swank

speaking of flatbush ave, for a little while this summer i was obsessed w/ bklyn larders sandwiches, which was a bad look cause theyre expensive, but i was going like 2x a week to get the chorizo and manchego or the pork sliders or the egg salad, ive tapered off a little, but, just saying

I love to hate on BK Larder because of the prices and the whole yuppie scum gourmet foodie vibe, $20 bottles of beer and various other bullshit but right after the baby was born a friend of ours sent us a huge gift basket of food from there (must have cost em a fortune) and it was fuckin' good. Like roast chicken, cold asparagus, veal meatballs, cheese ... a lifesaver. It was great. (Also helped that I didn't pay for it.)

Can't really justify the sandwiches though. I had one once. If I'm in a sandwich mood I'll just roll around the corner to City Sub. (Then literally roll back around the corner after eating a hueg sub.)

yeah i only started going to bk larder cause i went to city sub on a sunday by mistake but i got hooked and bad

also they sell chemex coffee filters

cause i went to city sub on a sunday by mistake

haha I've done that like five times. I think I've finally got it in my head that they're closed on Sun.

I'm really pretty excited for Toro because laurenp and Dan and others had said they had the best fish but their old location was cramped and nasty. The time I went it was like 100 degress with NO AC not how I wanna be eating my raw fish :(. Ready to give it another shot.

theres a new pizza place opening on franklin too

I liked Toro but I'm no sushi expert...I stick to pretty basic rolls. But they had great Chicken Karaage...I really think japanese fried chicken is the best. Toro had a good lunch special as well.

Locanda Verde was great - would go back in a flash. service was really nice, waitress overheard my son griping abt the butter sauce on his anglonotti and replated w/tomato sauce.

thread needs a map. Anything new or good in Chelsea?

co. pizza is kinda new, on 9th ave, right across the street from Grand Sichuan International, which is good

need no-big-deal Sunday brunch recomm for biannual meetup w/ cousin. Prefer west side btwn Houston & 57th, little no waiting, medium prices. I am in yr hands.

Never even heard of David's Brisket House. Anyone been?

http://lawandfood.blogspot.com/2010/09/breaking-fast-at-davids-brisket-house_23.html

The dad talks about Carnegie's in Carnegie Hall pretty often, but I've never been. He's basically referred to it as a filthy dump with the best sandwiches on earth.

you mean the Carnegie Deli? kind of a tourist trap tbh. it's expensive. sandwiches are too big to eat but they charge you to split plates. at a deli.

I've never been either. my wife's parents went. I don't feel like I need to go. katz's on the other hand ...

its super expensive total tourist trap and the pastrami is not even that good tbh

i think katzs kind of sucks too

I've been to Katz's a bunch but never Carnegie. Davids sounds like something else alltogether. I've never been to Mile End but I've had some of their meats on a platter, which was tasty.

Reading about David's makes we just want to go into business making sandwiches.

Tanoreen in Bay Ridge is SO SO INCREDIBLE. Like one of the best meals I have ever had. We ate Lamb with Okra, stuffed squashes and eggplant, brussels sprouts in tahini sauce, Goat meat in goat milk yogurt with egyptian rice and vermicelli, some kind of chicken pie with shallots, fish kibbe, and some other stuff (went with family and ordered a lot). Everything has its own unique flavor and spicing; you can tell that there isn't some pre-made "base" that they use in different dishes. I've never had softer goat meat. The dessert was otherworldly -- it was this birds-nest like pie with orange and rosewater flavoring and some kind of cheese inside that reminded me a bit of fresh mozz. Not heavily sweetened either. Really this place is just amazing.

had dinner w/ my parents at del posto on friday night, died of pleasure

tanoreen is great, and i saw ao scott there. think i prefer mimi's hummus in ditmas park, though.

Never been to mimi's. Been to Tanoreen twice, old location and new, and had takeout a few times (girlfriend sometimes has to work down there). We love it. Those brussels sprouts are classic.

Went to Fat Radish last night. Was decent. Very homey, not super special but mostly pretty tasty. Not bad as I expected from some of the mixed reviews. I had no idea Orchard street was like an art gallery scene. Shows you what I know.

Yeah I think that's a relatively recent development for Orchard Street?

well, I got no comments w/this on the ICE CREAM thread, so... who's et these?

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/20/dining/reviews/new-yorks-new-frozen-treats-25-and-under.html?_r=1

quiddities & agonies of fair trade & organic bananas dipped in 'deep, dark' chocolate w/ sea salt.

yeah well, fuck that stuff

actually sea salt chocolate banana sounds pretty good

does that exist somewhere for less than 5 bucks

my only beef w/ fancy hipster ice cream is the price

I live within walking distance of two/arguably three nu-hipster ice cream stores. Van Lieuwen on Bergen St. is the best imo, and also has great coffee. The sort of famous Blue Marble, with an outlet on Court St. is worth trying but not my favorite -- the ice cream has a slightly hard and dense consistency and I prefer creamier. But they have great flavors. Karloff, which is mainly a really good eastern european comfort food place, has a bunch of newfangled homemade ice cream as well and I didn't think it was that special. A friend of mine swears that the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck has the best ice cream he's ever had.

Rice, also nearby, has amazing little ice cream cookie sandwiches.

I had the Rockaway banana today ... with coconut; my friend had it with peanuts. It was good ... they cost $4 a piece.

u know how far you can stretch $4 at papaya dog?

I went to 6 ice cream/gelato places today, from the slideshow that NY Mag had. 3, then Harry Potter, then 3 more, then a beer.